Overview

EMDR therapy is a remarkable evidence-based approach to psychotherapy. However, it is not easy to do with many clients with complex trauma. Clients with complex trauma often struggle to develop the essential resources, have difficulty tolerating distress, and may initially lack much of the adaptive information that is needed for EMDR therapy to be effective. This book explores each of the phases of EMDR therapy and explains why many clients with complex trauma struggle. It offers sensible accommodations. Clients with complex trauma often survive by using coping strategies that directly conflict with the core tasks of EMDR therapy. We need to make the tasks of EMDR therapy safer and more tolerable to the client's nervous system. That takes time and attention. Clients with complex trauma may be harmed if they are shoved through a mindfulness or EMDR machine. This book invites therapists to explore the unique and complex nervous system of each client and adjust interventions to match each client. Topics covered in this book include: Doing a sensible and safer client history, options for when clients struggle with mindfulness activities, developing helpful attachment resources, ways to navigate blocking beliefs, assessing preparedness for reprocessing, selecting initial targets, understanding where EMDR therapy tends to break and how to intervene, and strategies to help memory content come into awareness in more tolerable ways.

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Reviews

""In EMDR for Complex Trauma, Tom acts as an encouraging and steady field guide to new (and experienced) EMDR therapists who encounter complicated, but common challenges in therapy.He brings a down-to-earth, approachable tone, generously sharing his accumulated wisdom from years of on-the-ground experience working with complex trauma as both a therapist, a consultant, and a trainer. As I read this I found myself imagining being in conversation with Tom through the mud of the common problems he described with my own clients. I have no doubt that this book will help thousands of newly trained EMDR therapists to find their way through discouragement, frustration, and confoundment to be able to appreciate not only the challenge, but the beauty and nuance of therapeutic work using EMDR with complex trauma."" -April Griffin, MSW RSW RCC""I wish this book existed when I was first trained as an EMDR therapist. However, I am grateful that it exists now as I embark on my journey as a consultant in training as I will utilize the invaluable information within to help support my consultees through the difficult work of treating C-PTSD using EMDR therapy."" -Amy Larmon, LCSW-R, Certified EMDR Therapist and Consultant-in-Training""I really can't begin to tell you how much I love this book. It is like a comforting warm coat on a cold frosty day, wrapped around you to stave off the chill. I just love every part, the exercises, scripts, examples, explanations--it is quite simply going to be my go-to book with EMDR work and, what's more, I know clients will find it a huge help too."" -Rebekah Jones, Consultant Psychotherapist, Certified EMDR Therapist""EMDR with Complex Trauma by Thomas Zimmerman is an essential guide for clinicians, especially new EMDR therapists navigating the complexities of trauma work. Zimmerman offers practical strategies to address deep-seated emotional wounds while empowering therapists to trust their own therapeutic instincts. As a new clinician, I found this book invaluable in breaking the stigma around being an 'experiential' therapist-encouraging creative, adaptive approaches grounded in EMDR principles. From somatic interventions to the ethics of trauma treatment, Zimmerman demystifies the process and provides actionable insights, making this book both a manual and a thoughtful meditation on healing. A must-read for any therapist committed to transformative trauma care."" -Naila Brown, MA, LPC-Associate, NCC""An essential companion for the EMDR therapist. This book provides insights on needed considerations and adjustments in working with complex trauma. It serves as a guide map of sorts, offering direction when feeling stuck or questioning which direction to take with a client. It validates adaptations to the basic protocol, offers scripts for resourcing, and important cautious approaches for compassionate successful work in this area."" -Rebecca Carr, NCC, LPC, PMH-C ""This manual is a true work of personal art. It is filled with lived experience and story, allowing readers to relate and understand the 'why and how' to approach complex trauma from an EMDR perspective. The metaphors and resources take complex clinical knowledge and translate it into simple and practical ways which promotes clinicians' confidence and creativity. I would recommend this skillfully crafted ""manual"" to any therapist."" -Rhea Eady, RSW & MSW

Author Information

Thomas Zimmerman, Ms.Ed., LPCC, is a mental health therapist who practices in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. He is an Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapist, consultant, and trainer who helps other therapists work more effectively with complex trauma. He writes, podcasts, trains, and provides consultation to other therapists globally on how to use the approaches described in this book with clients with severe trauma. He has trained thousands of therapists globally in trauma-focused interventions.

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